The Great Hall of Whump Prompts
by AHeartForStories
Summary: A collection of Httyd whump prompts written for the Httyd whump Discord server that I take part in. Chapter 3: Set post-THW. Some spoilers.
1. Unlucky Enough

_Whump Server Prompt #1: Falling Through Ice_

_Set during Httyd 2. Hiccup and Toothless fell above a frozen ocean and neither of them had much luck landing._

_Author's Notes: This was written for a monthly prompt challenge on a Httyd whump Discord server that I take part in._

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**Unlucky Enough**

"TOOTHLESS!"

The Night Fury heard Hiccup yell after he was torn out of the saddle by another dragon.

He wasn't sure of the exact species. He just heard it coming and tried to warn his Rider of its approach, but by then it was already too late. It had dug its claws into Hiccup's shoulders. It looked like a Shovelhelm.

He'd heard Hiccup shout when he was grabbed, before calling out his name, but Toothless was already plummeting.

The ocean was frozen below them. The ice he landed on was thick. Too thick to break even under his weight and with the amount of force he'd smacked onto it.

Upon colliding with it, fire ran through Toothless' entire being and he couldn't help but release a roar of pain as he lied on it. With Hiccup for a rider, he wasn't a stranger to crashlanding, but it was rare for them to hurt as much as it did this time.

He needd a moment to regain his composure, to let the painful agony in his body settle. His left fore- and hind legs and wing hurt especially bad. There was a particularly terrible headache brewing after the impact his head made with the frozen sea.

Once able to breathe a little easier, Toothless stared up to the sky to see the mysterious dragon rider with their Stormcutter and all the other dragons in their pack still circling them. Searching for and finding the offending Shovelhelm, the Night Fury noticed that Hiccup was no longer in his grasp.

He'd grabbed Hiccup by the shoulders instead of his arms. It was without a doubt a minor slipup, but it probably caused him to lose his grip.

Scanning the area for his Rider, Toothless' keen eyes quickly caught sight of a gap in what must be a thinner sheet of ice someways away. The water within it rocked, as did the broken chunks and pieces. It was newly created.

And Hiccup was nowhere to be found.

_'Hiccup!'_

Pushing himself up to his feet, every inch of him hurting and his left side protesting, Toothless dragged himself with a limp and hurry towards the break. The need to find his Rider motivated him to fight the pain.

It took him seconds longer to get there than he would've liked. If the hole had been created by Hiccup, he hadn't reached the surface at all in that time.

A roar of panic left the Night Fury, as if calling out to his Rider, before he sunk his head down into the water to see and make sure whether Hiccup was there or not. The freezing cold water bit even into his tough and heated hide, but Toothless chose to ignore it. What mattered to him was finding Hiccup.

He found him quite easily.

Hiccup was unconscious and sinking. And was that blood he spotted in the water?

Toothless wasted no time. He took a quick breath of air and dove down into the hole with him. The bone-chillingly cold water did his sore limbs no favours, but he refused to be held back when his Hiccup needed him.

With strong and swift strokes Toothless attempted to reach Hiccup as he slowly sank further and further away from him into the dark depths down below.

The stranger who had intercepted them moments earlier did not agree with his efforts. Before long, the Night Fury felt himself be pulled out of the water by other dragons.

Toothless struggled as hard as he could, roaring loudly in rage when he broke through the ocean's surface.

Hiccup was right there. Toothless only needed to grab him and he could've saved him had those dragons not interfered. The same Shovelhelm that had failed at keeping his hold on Hiccup properly was the one who held him in an iron grip now.

Toothless roared at him.

_'My Rider is down there! He's drowing!'_

Instead of listening, the Shovelhelm growled back at him. It wasn't necessarily hostile. It was more of a warning to calm down and not fight them any further, lest he lose his grip again.

With a simple wave of their staff, the dragon rider told the pack to move. If Toothless' efforts to be let go of so he could save Hiccup weren't desperate enough already, his struggles grew fiercer. At the same time, the Shovelhelm's grip on him grew even tighter, just shy of piercing his hide. Toothless' cringed at the sensation.

It took some tries, but eventually, a second dragon joined them to keep the Night Fury from escaping. All that Toothless could do was watch as the break in the ice Hiccup had fallen through became smaller and smaller as the entire pack flew away from the scene.

No amount of angry snarling or close warning shots could convince any of them to turn back around for his dear Rider. His calls of fury turned to calls of despair. And they weren't for the other dragons, they were for Hiccup, his significant other.

_"I know Bud."_

Remembering the last time his Viking came close to death by drowning didn't lessen the blow of losing him in the slightest.

_"I wouldn't leave you either."_

Toothless left him. It wasn't of his own will, but Toothless still left him. That was the only part that would ever truly matter to him.

They pack heard the telltale whine, but Night Furies were rare enough that they didn't immediately realize what Toothless was planning on doing. Once they did, it was already too late.

The Shovelhelm was blasted right out of the sky. As he fell, so did Toothless and the other dragon.

All three of them landed on the cold hard ice. While the other two were slow to recover from the crash, Toothless was quick to get back up on his aching feet. Injured or not, he needed to move.

He could hear that accursed staff rattle again, could hear the Stormcutter let out a roar, and the entire pack stopped.

Toothless needed to reach Hiccup before they could grab him again. He wasn't going to leave Hiccup behind. He didn't abandon him in the straits, he wasn't going to leave him to his fate now.

They hadn't gotten too far yet, fortunately enough. But still, Toothless was sure he must be seeing things as he sprinted back towards where his Rider had fallen. It almost looked like Hiccup was already out of the water.

The closer he came, Toothless realized that his eyes weren't tricking him. Hiccup truly was out of the water. He quickened his pace.

The dragons in the sky seemed to be watching him from a distance instead of chasing him. Did they figure out Toothless would be too much trouble to bring to wherever if he weren't reunited with the other rider?

Hiccup was lying next to the break. He wasn't moving. Thankfully, Toothless could still tell that he was alive. He didn't know on who's side they were, but he noticed a Seashocker disappearing into the darkness of the sea.

"... Bud?" Toothless couldn't thank the Berkian Gods, or the Seashocker, enough for the fact that Hiccup was still with him and breathing. The relief that swept over him upon hearing his voice, hoarse as it was, was indescribable.

Hiccup heard his dragon cooing and felt his warm breath as Toothless pressed his nose to his temple. He was cold. So, so, so cold. His fingers and toes were tingly, but numb. His stump was frozen. He shivered, the winds were relentless.

Toothless checked Hiccup's body out to get an assessment on his health. The fall could've been brutal to him.

He was lying on his left side, facing the other. His right arm was limp as it laid there at an odd angle and there was a terrible headwound that he'd previously been sniffing too. But that wasn't where the blood was coming from.

The Shovelhelm, on top of grabbing Hiccup wrong and losing his grip on him, one of his large talons had pierced through Hiccup's leather flight suit. The wound must not be deep enough to be life threatening or Hiccup would've bled out already, but that still needed treatment.

"I'm really cold, Bud." Toothless heard him and wrapped himself around the Viking as he lied down, both of his forelegs held him close. He held him close and hidden from view. Hiccup was sopping wet. In this kind of weather, so far up North, it wouldn't take long for him to freeze to death.

To make matters worse, Toothless knew the stranger and the dragon pack were approaching them again. He heard the rattling, heard the thunder coming closer.

Toothless bitterly realized he would have to let them do as they wished and take them. Hiccup needed treatment and shelter and he was in no fit condition to mount up and travel all the way back to Berk. He was close to passing out again. Hiccup's best chances were with the same ones who'd torn them out of the sky in the first place.

"Heh, I regret leaving Berk, Bud." Upon hearing Hiccup speak again, Toothless focussed his attention back on him. He was breathing through his pain, momentarily reminding Toothless of his own aches as he tried to suppress them for Hiccup's sake.

"Maybe I should listen to dad once in a while." Hiccup gazed up at him. Though he said it in a joking manner, Toothless could see he was truly sorry. To comfort him, Toothless cooed and pressed their foreheads together.

_'It's okay.' _That is what he tried to tell him. Hiccup smiled, closing his eyes. Whether he actually understood his dragon or not, at least Hiccup figured out what he was trying to do.

His left hand held onto his right shoulder. That was a hard landing he'd made, who knows the kind of injuries that were still hidden by his flight suit.

Hiccup was growing colder in his embrace too. Toothless gave him all the bodyheat he could provide, but it would mean very little for as long as Hiccup still wore his soaked clothes. Hypothermia could already be setting in.

With light footsteps, the stranger approached after having jumped off the Stormcutter. The other dragons in the pack were still up there in the air, but the two of them had joined them on the ground.

"Hmmm, Toothless!" Toothless held Hiccup tighter even despite his protests. He looked over, watched the mystery rider approach and bared his teeth in a snarl. It was a warning to not come any closer. At least, not with ill intention.

The rider stopped, crouching, and removed the mask that they wore.

The face that met Toothless was that of a woman and he was only briefly taken aback before growling again.

She didn't look like someone who would be a threat. In a way she reminded him of Hiccup somehow, but only vaguely so. Toothless wasn't fooled. He hadn't expected her, that was for sure. He would give her that much at least.

The woman made eye contact with him and continued her advance with caution. She was still crouching, her behaviour was that of a submissive dragon, a defensive one. Toothless never knew he'd ever meet a human who acted more dragon-like than Hiccup, but there she was and once again Toothless was dumbfounded.

Perhaps she could tell and she could very well be using that to come closer until she was right next to Hiccup, opposite to Toothless.

Gazes still connected, she slowly removed the armbrace that looked like a claw and placed it on Hiccup's shoulder.

She wanted to help.

Despite her draconic behaviour, her eyes were still that of a human and Toothless recognized a familiar kind of compassion in them.

"Bud?" Hiccup, though previously as stumped as he was, looked up to him. He was searching for an answer to only one question.

Could they trust her?

Hiccup would give her a shot if Toothless did and he decided, for his Rider's sake, that he did.


	2. Father's Worst Nightmare

_Whump Server Prompt #3: Burns_

_Stoick has imagined it before. After losing Valka, after watching the other Chiefs burn in the inferno that Drago caused, Stoick imagine losing Hiccup to that very same fiery fate. Despite the years spent protecting him, Stoick discovers he still wasn't ready for the real deal. NO MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH._

_Author's notes: There are four prompts this September. The first I decided to tackle was "Burn(s)"!_

_Constructive criticism is highly appreciated! __Enjoy!_

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**Father's Worst Nightmare**

Stoick has imagined it before.

When he lost Valka and watched her be taken into the dark night sky by a Stormcutter while he and their son were left in the burning house that was once their home. When Drago came down with his dragon army and turned the Great Hall in which all the Chiefs of the Archipelago had gathered into a blazing inferno. During every single dragon attack on Berk, he imagined it.

He imagined losing Hiccup to fire, to the flames of dragons.

In his darkest moments, he heard him scream. At night, in his nightmares, he watched him burn. Every morning he woke up, he prepared himself for the possibility that this day could be his last with his son.

For so long, that was all Stoick could think about. Since the boy's birth, he has thanked the Gods for each and every day Hiccup had not yet been taken from him.

But his wild imagination, the years of detachment and fighting, not even watching his son nearly be engulfed by the fires of the dying Red Death has ever managed to prepare Stoick for the day he watched a Singetail burn Hiccup alive.

It happened on the island that was supposed to become the Jorgenson's Storehouse Island.

As Stoick, Spitelout and Snotlout along with their dragons cornered the Singetail that had come to claim the land as theirs, Hiccup and Toothless flew up from underneath to blast the belly of the beast and chase it away. What was supposed to be any dragon's weakness was a surprise ambush in waiting from a Singetail instead.

As the fires from its belly came down upon them, Toothless tried to back up in time. Stoick had seen him try with a cry of panic, but the flames from the Singetail were too quick to avoid.

Many times Stoick had the displeasure of imagining what his only child's screaming would sound like. One time he had the misfortune of hearing them as an urgent amputation was performed on Hiccup to save his life from a rotting leg. The sounds he heard Hiccup make the day a Singetail burned him, Stoick had the bad luck to discover that they didn't even sound human anymore.

They managed to get him back home. It had been a torture to do so, but Hiccup lied in bed now. He was knocked out cold after all the sedative drugs Gothi managed to stuff his system full with. Painkillers and mind-altering herbs that Hiccup would need if they wanted his recovery to be as painless as they could make it. And if they wanted him to retain as little memory of this ordeal as was possible. It's how they got him through the loss of his leg as well.

Stoick sat by his bedside, Hiccup's bed having been moved to the groundfloor. He was just as lost now as he was last time.

Neck, torso, all of his right arm and his left forearm were bandaged up. His face and hair, though the latter was signed in some places, had been spared in the blast as Hiccup's arms had taken the brunt instead.

There was a mix of burns. Some would take weeks to heal, most would take months. Along the way, they would have to watch out for infections. They would have to fight the pain too. It would be Hiccup's reality his every waking moment, all they could do was help him lighten it and help him sleep through it.

For now, though, he was still. He slept.

Toothless did too, but his slumber was a light one. Stoick could see the Night Fury's ears twitching at the smallest of sounds. Minutes ago, Sharpshot scampered across the wooden floor in search of fish and Toothless was already wide awake to see what the source of those tiny claws were.

Stoick was thankful for that. For both Toothless' watchful eye and that his son slept. At least for now.

It was night, he should be sleeping too, but found that it was nigh impossible. He already needed to abandon his son during the day to perform his duties as Chief, when Gobber helped Toothless watch over him instead, Stoick couldn't bear to be apart from Hiccup at night as well.

He blamed Spitelout. For being too stubborn, for not listening, for not knowing about all of the Singetail's abilities. It went so far that the Chief hadn't even allowed Snotlout to come see his cousin yet.

"Dad-dad, I... I didn't know about the- about the- about the underbelly either. I should've- I should've known!" That is what Hiccup told him days ago, when Gothi tried to clean his burns for the first time and Stoick had mentioned thinking that the Jorgensons were responsible for this.

In between his sobs and his cries, even in agony, his son would defend others.

How had it taken him fifteen whole years to see these sides to him?

Pulled out of his thoughts, Stoick took his gaze off Hiccup's hand, held in both of his own, to look at his face. Hiccup let out small strangled noises of pain and wore a grimace, sure signs that his painkillers had worn off. The hurt was waking him up.

Gently laying the young man's hand down, the Chief stood up to go prepare the medicine Hiccup would need in the kitchen.

Waking up meant the chance to visit the outhouse, have something to drink and eat, a change of bandages, but he wouldn't want to stay awake for long. He would want peace and relief soon. Gothi left plenty of herbs. All Stoick had to do was mix them and add water.

By the time he was finished and returned with both it as well as water and a light meal, he could hear Hiccup groaning in the other room. Toothless was already up and purring by his side.

"Bud... Bud." Stoick noticed his son's eyes were open and focussed on Toothless as the Night Fury cooed comforting sounds to his Rider. He wanted to pet him on the nose.

"You're awake." Stoick's voice was soft as he settled back in his seat. His gaze was as gentle as he sounded as he looked down at his son. Teary eyes were wide as they stared back up to him. Hiccup was already trembling all over.

"Are you in any pain?" The Chief wasn't a fool, he knew Hiccup's every nerve must be on fire now, but at least this way he could provide Hiccup an opportunity to voice what he felt. Perhaps, it was a reminder to Hiccup that he didn't need to hide his hurt from his father.

"Yeah. Hurts." Some of Hiccup's tears slipped. Awake for less than five minutes and already the young man wished he'd never woken up.

Setting the medicine down on a small table next to the bed, Stoick knew Hiccup would need to face half an hour to an hour more of this agony before he could have the sweet, sweet release of sleep to put an end to his suffering.

It made Stoick feel even more guilty than he already did.

For failing to protect his son, for not being able to take away the pain, for not knowing what involving Hiccup in his quest to find Spitelout would lead to.

Stoick wished he could reverse time. Even when the burns would eventually heal, many of them would leave behind ugly scars that would remain sensitive. Berk's cold certainly wouldn't be kind to them. This could very well be an injury, received in just the blink of an eye, that would trouble Hiccup for years to come.

He had yet to forgive himself for the loss of Hiccup's leg too.

"Dad?" Pulled out of his wandering thoughts once more, Stoick noticed Hiccup reaching for the mug of water.

"Water. Please?" He looked almost desperate for it and his father was reminded of the fact that one of Gothi's fears was that Hiccup's burns were internal as well.

They weren't, another something Stoick thanked the Gods for, but the mere possibility had certainly kept him up at night.

"Here, son." Hiccup's throat was only dry, fortunately. He sat up as he accepted the mug his father offered to him. The act of sitting up was not an easy feat and Stoick needed to help him stay up, but resisting the urge to down the entire drink in one gulp was evidently more difficult for Hiccup.

Hiccup shrunk in on himself as he handed the wooden mug back and whimpered, the first sign of desperation already showing through. He wanted to fall asleep again, but he also knew his bandages and his body's needs needed tending to first.

He didn't look forward to the next hour or two. He didn't look forward to tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or the ones following afterwards.

"What do you think, son? Something to eat? Or do you want your bandages changed first?" It took Stoick every little bit of his willpower to keep his composure.

Hiccup was suffering. He could see it in the way his son shivered, in how he was using every ounce of his own strength to not break out into a crying fit right in front of his Chief because of the hurt tearing his nerves apart, in the way his one somewhat uninjured hand grabbed a fistful of the covers. Stoick knew very little to measure up to what Hiccup was feeling, but it pained the man to see him this way.

He tried to stay strong and yet he was about to break.

When Hiccup's face inevitably contorted into a pained grimace, he lied down and small noises of pain left his vocals. Hiccup's strength failed him as he lost his battle and he began to cry.

Hiccup almost curled up on his side, but that move just brought him even more pain. Everything he did brought nothing more than pain. And there wouldn't be any relief, not for another hour or so.

Stoick could lay a hand on Hiccup's one mostly unscathed shoulder and let him know he was here, but there was little else he could do to help him. There wasn't anything else Toothless could do besides giving him reassuring rumbles and his nearest thigh a nudge either. The Night Fury was too scared to even settle on the bed like he usually would, afraid that his dry scales would accidentally brush up against his Rider's burnt skin.

All Stoick could really do was sigh deeply and cast his gaze downward in sorrow. Hiccup's mug was still in his hand as he sat there and listened to his son cry, knowing those tears and his pitiful sobbing wouldn't stop until Gothi's mixture would knock him out again.

They all needed to get through these coming months. Hiccup would need to heal, would need to take care of himself and live with the kind of pain able to tear one's sanity apart. Stoick would need to live with his guilt, with the knowledge that he couldn't save his son's mother, his leg and now most of his upper body.

These would be trying times and all the while Hiccup still worried about the Dragon Hunters, but they would need to get through them.

Someway, somehow, they would need to live to see the day they could be okay again.


	3. Broken For Her

_Whump Server Prompt #5: Broken Bone(s)_

_Set post-THW (and yet diverges from THW). Some THW spoilers. Light (Fury) was never quite sure what to think of Hiccup, the Night Fury's rider. She got used to his antics, warmed up to his compassionate personality, found herself bewildered with the respect and awe he showed towards dragons, but after a year, there are still plenty of surprises she still has left to discover._

_Had some difficulty ending this one._

_Constructive criticism is highly appreciated!_

_Enjoy!_

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**Broken For Her**

The Light Fury sat by the fire Toothless made. Gathering and neatly piling a bunch of branches with skill that told of the many years the Night Fury has spend with the Vikings of Berk, he created something that the humans called a "campfire". He lit it up with a quick and small plasma blast to finish it off.

The light of the fire washed over all three of them. Her, Toothless, and the Night Fury's Rider, Hiccup.

"Thanks, Bud. That's a lot better." Hiccup told Toothless, who crooned and pressed their foreheads and then their cheeks together. A very draconic gesture of affection, Light noticed. The two of them did that a lot.

Hiccup was sitting at her side, a wing of hers shielding him from the freezing winds that the trees around them failed to keep out. While Toothless was out on his quest to make his human a fire, she was keeping him warm.

The campfire was lit now, Hiccup would no longer need to rely on a dragon's body heat to keep him safe from the cold. A good thing, but Light found herself unable to move away from him. Or rather, she was unwilling to.

They weren't in New Berk, they weren't even on their island. Instead, they were far away from home, camping out in the middle of a forest during a chilly Winter night after escaping from some lonesome Dragon Hunters. They had been desperately trying to revive the business empire that was once Viggo Grimborn's years ago, they were old foes.

It was hard to do so with the Dragon Riders' constant meddling. They thought it would help to catch the Chief of the Hooligans, the Dragon Rider, off guard, drag him back to their base and force him to cough up New Berk's location as well as the whereabouts of any and all dragon rescues.

Big mistake, of course. Not only was there no way Hiccup would simply tell them what they wanted to know, but they'd failed to properly restrain Toothless. The Night Fury had broken free before they'd brought him back to the camp and nearly gone on a rampage to break his mate and other significant other out.

Some miles away, the camp was still burning to the ground. There was a massive smoke plume visible in the moonlight. The three of them were waiting for the others to come bring them back home.

They'd been out together for Hiccup's day off, Toothless wasn't wearing his automatic tailfin and Hiccup could not steer their artificial fin the way he was now.

Light was staring at him. As Toothless settled near them, at Hiccup's other side, she was still staring.

Hiccup's face was bloody and bruised. An eye of his was swollen, his nose only just stopped bleeding and his lip was split. Though it looked painful, none of it could compare to the mess that were his hands.

Before the Night Fury had escaped, Light Fury had cloaked herself by heating her scales from the inside-out. That made it seem like she was no longer in her cage at all. The Hunters had blamed her mate's Rider for her mysterious disappearance, believing he'd somehow broken her out while they weren't looking. They clearly knew nothing of her species.

Light watched as they attempted to tear the answers out of him.

Hiccup could've simply told them the truth. That she was still in there, that her kind could cloak themselves like Changewings, but he hadn't. It was like he knew it made her feel safer and thus refused to tell them.

They'd beaten him. She could see the state of his face, but she'd heard ribs crack too.

As for his hands, they'd given him a choice.

"Give them the truth or have every bone in his hands broken."

For her sense of safety, he'd chosen the latter.

They were bloody and they were bruised. Placing first his right hand and then his left on a table, the Hunters had used a large hammer and it shattered bones and torn skin. Some of his fingers didn't quite bend the right way anymore either. He couldn't move any of them.

The human elderly healer, the one they named Gothi, she would have to take good care of them after the three of them returned home.

As a show of sympathy, Light gave Hiccup a soft nudge on his nearest forearm. His armbraces were absent. He was quieter than she was used to of him and she knew it was from the pain he must be feeling. She'd listened to him screaming with every hit on his hands. And while she couldn't look away, staring made her feel as if her own paws were hurting.

In the past year, the Light Fury warmed up to Toothless' Rider. She'd gotten used to his antics and stubbornness, to his recklessness. At the latter, she often showed her dismay. How Toothless let himself be wrapped up in their shenanigans time and again was beyond her. She never understood.

But Hiccup was a compassionate human with a respect and awe for dragons she'd never seen in his kind before. And after watching him take so much abuse and so much pain just so she would feel a little bit better until her mate would inevitably free the two of them, she finally saw what Toothless has been seeing for so many years. She finally saw Hiccup for who he truly was.

Unique, beautiful in his own way. She knew now what drove the dragons of Berk to hold him in such high regard, what drove them to love him. Hiccup was a human alpha, but his position amongst the dragons was second only to that of Toothless, the King of them all.

Light wondered if Hiccup even knew.

"I'm okay, Bud. I'm okay. Those Hunters did a number on me, but it was ten times more favourable than anything Viggo and Krogan have put us through." Hiccup attempted to ease his partner. Toothless was grumbling and fussing over his Rider's injuries, telling him to lie down and try to get some rest before the rescue party showed up. It wouldn't take them much longer now.

He was staring at Hiccup's hands. All three of them were.

They weren't words Hiccup could hear, but before he left on his little excursion, Toothless had told Light his Viking might be lucky if he could still properly use them after this. A notion that greatly sorrowed him, he loved the human Chief's hands and all they could do. Gothi could return some functionality to them, but extra care and loving treatment was necessary if they wanted Hiccup to invent, forge or draw ever again.

Light liked Hiccup's drawing. She never showed him how much she appreciated his skills. He taught Toothless everything he knew. It was interesting to watch him help out in the forge too.

She watched him help a drake with two bad hindlegs walk again.

His hands were important.

"Bud, I'm fine." Hiccup insisted when Toothless nudged his shoulder.

Deciding to help out, Light carefully pushed her snout into his collarbone with a croon. Hiccup gazed back at her in surprise and she crooned again. She gestured to the space between her and Toothless. He was already nestled in the middle, might as well lie down.

"Oh, uh, okay-okay." Too surprised to put up much of a fight, Hiccup listened. Both dragons needed to help him settle. It hurt for him to move. His ribs ached and it was hard to breathe freely without pain. He moaned once he was snug between them, eyes squeezed closed and face pulled into a grimace. His hands were cradled to his chest.

The upside to this, Hiccup admitted, was that this was the closest he'd ever been to the Light Fury so far. Cautious as she was, he counted himself lucky whenever she was willing to be in his near vicinity. To actually be nestled warmly in between her and Toothless, even while discomfortable with his injuries, to be cared for and protected by both of them, he would gladly savour this until the Dragon Riders would inevitably come for them.

After sighing deeply and successfully keeping his composure, Hiccup then looked up to both Furies as they gazed back down at him. He could feel Toothless' warm breath brushing through his hair, a familiar feeling.

Light was grateful for his sacrifice, Hiccup could tell by the look she wore and by the way she rumbled at him. He smiled up at her. If his hands weren't as beat up as they were, he would've tried to request the opportunity to scratch her chin like he would with Toothless.

"I'd do it again." Hiccup shrugged, his smile only growing despite the pain he was in. Light could see that there was an undeniable honesty in his gaze.

He really would do it again.

His hands were too hurt for the time being, so Light purred and affectionately rubbed her snout against his temple instead. A chuckle left Hiccup, quickly cut off when it proved to be too torturous for his aching ribs. It earned him a panicked yelp from Light, fussing over his well-being, a well-meaning nudge from her nose to his was met with a pained moan on Hiccup's part, who quickly turned his head.

"Toothless, a little help, please? She's not aware how meek and fragile we, humans, are."

Toothless watched them, wrapping his tail around Light and in a way Hiccup as well. What mattered to him was that they were both safe and that the Dragon Riders were coming, but watching his Rider and mate finally bond like this, it was a sight he'd been dying to see all year.

The Light Fury finally understood why Toothless loved Hiccup as much as he did, why he would go to the ends of the Midgard for him now and forever.

Because he knew, Hiccup would do the same for either one of them.


	4. Vicious Fury

_Whump Server Prompt #2: Dragon Bite_

_Some THW spoilers! __After years of searching, Hiccup wasn't expecting to run into another Night Fury. But he does and this time there are no ropes or mercy that can save him from harm._

_Author's note: Finished this one just in time for the end of September!_

_Constructive criticism is highly appreciated. Enjoy!_

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**Vicious Fury**

"So you're just gonna leave me here and go, huh?" Hiccup asked teasingly when Toothless and Light made a move to fly off. Apparently, they planned on leaving him behind in the middle of nowhere.

They were still on New Berk and it was his first day off in a long, long while. It's been a year since Light, short for Light Fury, made her home with the dragons and Vikings of the Hairy Hooligan tribe and free-time like this was a rarity ever since Hiccup became Chief. He wanted to enjoy it with the two Furies and hopefully strengthen the still quite new bond with one of them, but their plans evidently did not line up with Hiccup's.

Toothless approached again, giving a croon and a nudge to Hiccup's nose. He attempted to converse with the human.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You just want some alone time with the Light Fury now that we're far away from the village, I know." Hiccup sighed, pulling away from Toothless' affections.

He knew Toothless was busy too. As the King, he was expected to govern over the dragons of their tribe.

The Chief and the King, they were co-rulers.

If Toothless could have some time off, it's only natural he'd want to spend some time alone with his mate. Hiccup, despite being out here with these two dragons, knew he longed for some time alone with Astrid that didn't revolve around duties and responsibilities.

That is why, even though he was genuinely a tad bit miffed, Hiccup wasn't about to stop them from leaving.

He just wished he could spend some quality time with Toothless and Light as well.

Toothless purred and rubbed his side up against Hiccup's body, another affection gesture, but this time to show that he appreciated the young man understanding him.

"No, don't thank me yet! I expect you to make it up to me, okay? I want fish. Baskets full of fish! By tomorrow morning!" It was more of a joke than anything, combined with the appropriately animated gestures that Hiccup Haddock the Third was known for amongst his fellows tribespeople. "Baskets full of fish" was exactly the way most dragons made up with one another.

Toothless made his guttural laugh and playfully licked his Rider's face with his entire tongue before joining Light, who'd sat down during their interaction. A loving nuzzle was shared between the two of them as Hiccup gagged and groaned in the background, attempting to wipe all the saliva away. She stood back up.

They turned to leave again. As Light took off with a short chirp, Toothless roared his goodbyes to his Rider before chasing after the other Fury. Hiccup was quiet as he watched them go.

A disappointed sigh left him before they disappeared out of sight and Hiccup found himself to be all alone on one of the many cliffs of this land.

He didn't blame his Bud for wanting some alone time with Light, but if he'd known, he would've asked Astrid to tag along.

Although, he wasn't completely opposed to having some solitude. He was handling his role as Chief fairly well so far, but Berk could often be too much. A little peace and quiet was appreciated sometimes. Maybe he could work a little on his map.

They were still on New Berk. The island remained mainly unexplored, so it seemed to make sense to stay close to home. Who knew the kind of beautiful places they would find. Another reason why they had decided to stay a year ago.

Losing Berk had been devastating, it made him feel like he'd failed his father and his village as Chief, but the beauty and possibilities of this place here made up for it. At least, for a little bit.

Not too long after their settlement on New Berk had become a permanent one, Hiccup had started to map the island's every cliff and top whenever he had time. He wasn't even a quarter of the way done.

Pulling out a deceptively small book out of one of the many pockets lining the inside of his leather vest and dropping to his knees, Hiccup flipped it open and pulled onto the paper inside. Unfolding it, his current work in progress was laid out into the open on the grassy ground.

A charcoal pencil was fished out of one of his other pockets.

"Okay. Where am I?" Hiccup muttered to himself as he took a look at his surroundings. He wasn't at all where he had left off last time, but he did at least somewhat recognized this place from the patrols he's been on.

It was a good thing this map was only a first draft. He'd get to the official one eventually.

Already with an outline of the whole island before him and a general idea of where he was, Hiccup got to work.

He took note of the height of the cliff he was on, of the size of the forest behind him, the waterfall he saw in the distance as Terrible Terrors chirped happily in the trees behind him. It wasn't long before his hands were black from the charcoal and the paper a streaky mess from what he tried to erase.

"It's just a draft." Hiccup needed to remind himself.

As he worked, it took him much too long to realize the Terrors fell silent. Gazing up the treetops behind him, he noticed they weren't there anymore.

Shrugging, he didn't put too much thought into it and continued, grumbling an annoyed "oh Thor" when he saw another mistake and began to wipe it away.

A feeling began to creep up his spine, however. An utmost discomforting sensation that grew too much to ignore.

Pausing in his endeavour to get the right shape of the waterfall's lake down for the third time, Hiccup soon realized what this feeling was.

It was that of being watched of being hunted.

And by the almost tangible animosity that overwhelmed him, he doubted it was Toothless or one of the Dragon Riders playing a prank on him. Or even Light, distrusting of him as she could still sometimes be.

Hands steadying themselves on the map before him, Hiccup had to breathe in and out deeply. A terrible kind of anxiety welled up inside of him. He was alone. He needed to remain calm.

Should he reach for his knife? His Inferno? Whatever was lurking behind him couldn't see him do it.

He didn't want to just assume that it was completely hostile either. He could've accidentally stumbled across a particularly territorial dragon's home and he could deal with that. In that case, they would be well in their own right to protect what was theirs.

Deciding against using either one of his available weapons, Hiccup instead chose to turn and take a look. Slowly and cautiously as to not rile his predator up, while wearing an expression of worry, he gazed over his shoulder at the vast plantlife behind him.

Had New Berk's bushes and trees always been this thick or did he only now notice? He couldn't see anything within all that green.

His heart's beating picked up the pace when he could hear a low growling. It wasn't his imagination, something was truly there.

He should be leaving. But even as the thought crossed his mind, he still found himself searching.

And eventually came across a pair of big yellow eyes glaring back at him.

"Oh Gods." He moved to push himself up and that was apparently a mistake.

A whistling sound and the familiar lavender kind of glow seeped through the leaves of the greenery the dragon was lurking from and Hiccup threw himself back down to the ground in just the nick of time when a deadly ball of purple coloured fire came speeding just inches above his head and exploded far away in midair.

"What the?! Plasma blast?!" There was no time for Hiccup to think. He was on the ground and the prowling dragon finally jumped out of hiding.

His eyes were ready to pop right out of his skull as he watched the dragon made itself look even bigger with the use of its wings. It was the first time in a long while that Hiccup felt himself shrink under such a display of intimidation.

Big head, the fins, sleek body, hide as black as the moonlit sky, this was a real-life Night Fury.

And it wasn't Toothless.

His Bud wasn't even around. Nobody was!

"Oh Gods!" This time spoken in panic, the words left Hiccup as he scrambled to get to his hands and knees.

This was the first Night Fury he'd seen in years. Prove that they did still exist! But there was no time for awe, no time for reverence, as his movement was a sign the wild dragon took as its chance to strike. That first blast was just to get him flat on the ground.

It lunged for him with its snarl bared and its claws out. All it took to get right on top of him was one great leap, too easy of a feat for a creature as agile as this one. Hiccup just got up to his knees when a maw full of white teeth filled his field of vision almost entirely.

They were so close, he could smell the stench of fish and could feel the warmth of its breath.

Throwing his body backward and putting his arms up to protect himself, Hiccup could prevent the Night Fury from biting down on his head and torso, but doing so caused his right arm to get stuck between its grinding teeth instead.

As he yelled, as he fell, he could feel its claws pulling onto his vest and tunic. As his arms provided a shield for his head, he could feel its teeth scraping against his skin and his scalp before it got a hold of his right arm. It was, for sure, a sensation he wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon.

"No!"

It was a frightened shout that left Hiccup. And meanwhile, the Night Fury on top of him took hold of his right shoulder and left side, one of its hindlegs pinned down his prothetic. It kept him from escaping.

As thinly slitted pupils glared down onto him, with its strong jaws clamping shut onto his right fore-and upper arm, it noticed the leather vambraces that Hiccup wore. Its tail swaying in challenge behind and growling in anger, the Fury bit down even harder.

"No, no! Wait! Stop!" Hiccup could feel the pressure increasing, even effectively cutting off his blood supply. He tried to use his remaining free limbs to push the dragon off. It didn't budge, of course, but Hiccup needed to try if he wanted to live.

"Listen! I'm not-" A long cry of pain left his throat as the claws gripping his shoulder pierced through clothing and skin, drawing blood and creating deep gashes as it tore a path all the way down to his hip.

Tears slipped freely from his eyes. The agony was unimaginable. Breathing through it, with everything else he was still dealing with, was nearly impossible, but he needed to try.

"Please! Listen! I'm not your enemy!" It was difficult to speak, but Hiccup tried his best. He needed the Night Fury to listen. Not just because this was the first of Toothless' kind he'd come across in a little over seven years, but also because he just did not want to harm a dragon.

The Hooligans were still new to this island, foreigners who'd settled on a land that was surely already home to others. If he had mistakenly intruded onto its territory, he didn't want to kill it.

But Hiccup could plead and hope all he wanted, the Night Fury didn't feel like listening. The other set of claws, the ones digging into his left side, they were dragged downwards next and just as slowly. Hiccup screamed again.

He hoped they didn't go too deep. Oh Gods, the kind of damage they could do. Do his ribs, to his insides... Growing desperate, Hiccup kicked and pushed with all his might.

And then, another scream tore out of his lungs. It was the loudest and longest he'd produced so far. His arm finally succumbed under the pressure and broke. He could feel the bones shatter, watched his hand go limp, leather and flesh were mashed together.

If the pain wasn't too much to bear earlier, it certainly was now. And if he hadn't been crying before, he certainly was now.

"STOP!"

Teeth still unrelenting, claws digging into wounds already present. Its right paw let go to grab hold of his hair, talons puncturing his scalp and face, pinning his head in place. Their gazes had been locked ever since the start of this encounter. There was a deeply rooted hatred within those hauntingly yellow eyes.

It was now or never. He hated doing this, absolutely despised the very thought of it, but if he didn't pull his blade on this dragon soon, he would lose his arm. He might even lose his life and there were too many people depending on him for him to leave for Valhalla now.

His dagger might seem meaningless as his only defense against a Night Fury, but his Inferno was out of reach. His tiny knife, in comparison, would have to do.

It was an awkward move to pull off, but Hiccup managed to unsheathe the dagger from his armbrace and held it ready to strike.

If he could just cut into a leg, or shoulder, or something, he might convince it to let go of him. At least, temporarily.

The Night Fury noticed the knife instantly, of course. A glint of fear broke through that fierce wall of anger.

So in the end, he couldn't go through with his only plan of escape. Losing his grip, the knife fell, and the pressure on his arm grew in revenge.

Many Vikings had tried to tell him that his compassion would get him killed someday.

He wished they didn't turn out to be right.

Angered by his brief attempt on its life, the Night Fury pulled and shook. The action caused teeth to break through his skin and make him bleed. He felt his right shoulder pop right out of its socket from the force behind it and he screeched.

"TOOTHLESS! BUD!"

And then, he was free.

Their separation wasn't a pleasant one. The jaws still clamped painfully onto the entirety of his arm were torn away and it hurt. Hiccup hated to scream again, but that is exactly what he did.

With the Night Fury gone, another shadow stepped over him and shielded him from the other dragon.

"Tooth?" It was Hiccup's dragon who'd come to his rescue. Wings unfurled, snarling, glowing blue, Toothless' entire body stood over his Rider to protect him. His tail hid most of him from view. It wasn't often Hiccup saw his dragon this furious.

To his surprise, however, it wasn't Toothless who attacked his would-be killer.

The one on top of the other Night Fury and biting down on its fins, was the Light Fury.

She was the one who freed him.

Mangled arm limp on his stomach, bleeding out on the ground, trembling awfully, Hiccup let the two Furies of Berk handle this one.

It wasn't long before the offending dragon, knowing that it was both outnumbered and outmatched, decided that it was time to leave. Once finally able to shake Light off its back, its wings bloody and torn, it ran for the safety of the greenery it came from. Toothless and Light watched it go. Both of them a wall between him and it.

Or...

Her?

Hiccup noticed fledgelings.

Actual Night Fury juveniles that, when compared to how long it took Toothless to grow up, couldn't have been older than a few years. They might not even be two yet.

And one of them, there were three of them in total, was missing an eye and a leg.

It all made sense to Hiccup then. The cruel animosity, a scarred baby, a missing partner when these particular dragons mated for life, the way she attacked made sense to Hiccup now.

It must've been humans who hurt her and her family. Naturally, upon meeting a human on a place humans were never meant to reach, she would make the first, and final, move.

The injured mother snarled at the three of them one last time before moving on, hurriedly nudging one of her fledglings' rear to get it moving.

A tremendous sense of guilt overwhelmed Hiccup once they were gone and he wondered if he should search for the three of them on some later day. Once he was fully recovered. He wanted to help.

Comforting purring, Toothless brought his attention back to the two of them. Both Night and Light Furies were standing over him and gazing down at him in concern.

"Hey, Bud. Light. Thanks for the save."

He was bleeding terribly. There were gashes on his back, shoulder, and side. There were also puncture wounds on his head and one on his face. His whole right arm was a broken and torn mess. Gothi would need to work hard if he even wanted to keep it.

Light sniffed his injuries and Toothless purred as he carefully headbutted his Rider. Much like a cat. Hiccup wasn't too opposed to the affection, it gave him a sense of safety.

He began to feel lightheaded from the blood loss and it wasn't long before he passed out.

* * *

"I'd tell you to rest, but since that has never worked on you before... What're you working on?" Astrid joined Hiccup up in his loft one afternoon.

Two weeks after his brutal attack, Hiccup sat upright in his bed. With a bandage around his head and torso and his splinted arm in a sling. A charcoal pencil was held in his uninjured hand while one of his sketchbooks rested on his lap.

"Ah, just some sketches." Astrid approached as Hiccup answered her. Sitting down on the edge of his bed, she took a look at all she could see on the paper he was currently drawing on.

"Hiccup, are these-"

"Prosthetics? Yeah, I guess they are."

"Tiny prosthetics. Judging by the equally tiny Night Fury on the left here." Astrid noted out loud, pointing towards the image of a dragon in the corner there. It stood amidst a sea of fake legs a growing Night Fury could use. Based on his own and Toothless' legs.

Hiccup didn't respond to that, but instead stared at the sketch.

"You mentioned babies while Gothi was taking care of you. You were completely delirious, but everyone could tell you weren't just making this up. Is that one of the hatchlings you saw? You want to help it?" Astrid wasn't sure why she even asked. She knew her fiance, she already knew what his answer would be.

"Well..." Hiccup smiled at her. In that familiar, crooked, "you know me" kind of way that she loved even in this situation. Astrid sighed and balled her fists, only just suppressing the urge to punch him in the recently previously dislocated shoulder.

"Hiccup, there isn't a dragon or a person you don't want to help. You'd try to give a Draugr its humanity back, honestly." Astrid didn't mean that in a bad way. Her man was sensitive, compassionate, and she loved that about him. It was what had made her fall for him in the first place.

"I can always try, right?" Hiccup shrugged, despite the pain his body was in.

His painkillers were wearing off, though. His arm was starting to pound again. He would rather not have it set in again.

Astrid smiled back at him. His returning pain didn't go unnoticed by her.

"I'll go get one of Gothi's suspiciously smelly concoctions. Don't go anywhere. Okay, Babe?" Astrid couldn't help herself and ran a hand through Hiccup's hair as she left.

Hiccup let himself sink a little lower in bed. An action he immediately regretted when his stitched wounds protested.

Gothi worked on him for hours after Toothless and Light managed to bring him back home, ultimately traumatizing Berk for the next few weeks. Fourteen days had passed, the 'get well' gifts and meals were still coming. According to Astrid, plenty of Hooligans were asking her about his health.

Taking care of the wounds on his head and the deep scratch marks on his upper body wasn't the most difficult of tasks. It had been Fishlegs who'd stitched them up with the delicate touch and care that only he could provide. Gothi had the more difficult job of piecing the fractured bones of his arm back together again and sewing up where teeth had bitten into his flesh.

They'd both done an excellent job during this trying day and he would make a full recovery. Although, the true extent of possible permanent damage may not be known until the breaks were healed.

Hiccup cringed and needed to ride out the horrible stinging of his stitches, but he soon gazed back down at his work again.

He wasn't naive. He knew this wouldn't be easy. Besides winning the trust of a clearly very traumatized dragon, eventually getting on her good side probably wouldn't mean he'd automatically be allowed even a single solitary glimpse at any of her three children, but he also knew he needed to try.

How could he call himself the Dragon Rider, if he didn't at least try?


	5. First Crash

_Whump Server Prompt: Crash landing_

_Summary: Takes place during Httyd 1. Toothless knew crashing was already a painful experience for a dragon, but for a human, it could be dangerous. Especially for a fifteen-year-old boy like Hiccup._

_Author's Note: _Another whump prompt from the Httyd whump server that I'm a part of! This time it's "crash landing"! For once, I decided to whump smolcup.

Constructive criticism is appreciated! It's past midnight!

Enjoy!

* * *

**First Crash**

Learning how to fly was a process that came with its ups and downs. Creating a tailfin light and strong enough for a Night Fury to use was one thing, but then getting that tailfin to cooperate was an entirely different story.

Originally, it wasn't Hiccup's intention to reach for the skies himself. What he wanted was to correct his wrong and help the Night Fury he'd hurt to be able to fly again. The goal was to see Toothless fly and when Toothless would no longer need him, Hiccup would let him go.

Though, there was the anticipation, the excitement, whenever they came so close.

Of course, flying also meant accepting that the occasional crash could happen. They were both new at this, figuring each other out, working out how this "flying with two as one" thing was supposed to work.

One time, it ended quite badly.

"Hey, we're doing it, Bud! We're doing it!" Hiccup's excitement that their take-off was a success made Toothless' heart soar, too. The human juvenile had an effect on him, the dragon started noticing this long ago.

Toothless roared, sharing his enthusiasm as they passed rows of trees. He knew Hiccup responded to vocal noises. It made sense, Hiccup used his voice all the time.

However, their joy was short-lived as Hiccup pushed the stirrup down just a tad bit too much and ended up smacking the Night Fury's prosthetic into the branches of a tree they passed. It collapsed and the wind pushed them off balance.

"Oh no." Was all Hiccup managed to say when the two of them were brought back down to the ground, not even a full minute after taking off.

Crashlanding always hurt and Toothless knew this more than any other dragon ever since a certain Viking decided to shoot him out of the sky. He wasn't looking forward to his inevitable collision with the ground.

It was hard, just like he expected it to be. The ground was unforgiving.

When he finally stilled, after slamming into another tree, there wasn't just the pain, but he was upset as well.

He was mad at Hiccup. For taking his tailfin, for making flying something he needed to relearn, for causing them to crash again.

It lasted for a solid second. Then he realized the boy was no longer on his back or even near him.

There would certainly be bruises, but Toothless was otherwise unharmed and he quickly got up to his feet, immediately scanning the area for Hiccup.

There was a fallen tree obscuring his view on one side and Toothless decided to check behind it. That was where he finally found the human youngling.

He was lying on his front, limbs splayed out. Toothless could tell he was still alive, but blood was staining his hair and face and that was a reason for concern. Jumping over the tree, he quickly approached.

Hiccup's eyes were closed, he was unconscious.

Toothless crooned worriedly, nuzzling his boy's cheek in an attempt to wake him up. For as angry as he could be at him sometimes, he didn't want the human to be hurt. They were friends.

Thankfully, Hiccup stirred.

"Bud?" Toothless purred, at least Hiccup wasn't unconscious for long. He felt like that must be a good sign, though he knew very little of humans besides the sad fact that they weren't fireproof.

With a pained groan, Hiccup rolled onto his back and Toothless stood over him, blocking out the sun. Hiccup grimaced. Everything hurt.

"You know, if we're gonna do this whole flying thing, we probably shouldn't be making a habit out of crashing, right?" He asked, finding some way to lighten the situation even with his head pounding.

Toothless grumbled. Of course, they shouldn't be crashing. What a time to realize this.

He sniffed the blood covering Hiccup's face and found the source to be a headwound. Hiccup tried to wipe it out of his eyes and looked at his hands. They were wet and stained.

"Oh, Gods..." He groaned and sat up, his brain throbbing terribly inside of his skull. He held his head, hoping that the feeling and the dizziness would cease soon. He suddenly felt very nauseous as well, like he was about to throw up any second.

Toothless stepped back to give him some space. Should he be doing something? Did the human need his help? He wasn't sure. He decided to wait and see.

Moving his legs, Hiccup could feel something wasn't quite right with his left. But it wasn't until he tried to get up that he realized his ankle was broken. He yelped and held it, butt back on the ground.

Toothless was watching him closely, realizing that the face he was pulling was one out of pain. Reminding himself to croon in order to communicate with the Viking, he drew his attention and got a teary-eyed look from him.

"I'm fine, Bud, don't worry. I just need to get back to the village." He wasn't looking forward to it, he could already see the sneers and hear them blaming him for getting into trouble again as someone helped him to Gothi's.

Even though, his reputation had become significantly more positive ever since he started acing dragon training, that was still the reaction he expected to get.

Using the fallen tree to get up, Hiccup knew he wasn't going anywhere with his left ankle the way it was. Trying to break off a branch that was just tall enough for him, though, that wasn't quite so easy either.

"Oh, come on!" Toothless watched him push and pull in his efforts to remove the branch, all while trying to keep his weight off his injured foot. He wasn't so successful, doing this only seemed to be hurting him more, so Toothless decided to intervene.

Using his head to pull Hiccup away, Toothless got him to lean on him. He needed to hold onto the dragon in order not to fall and jostle his ankle too much. Or his head for that matter. Everything spun when Toothless removed him from the tree.

"Toothless?" But he figured out what Toothless must be trying to do.

"Are you helping me back?" He asked, but instead of being answered, Toothless walked into the direction he knew the human pack to be settled at, taking a minor detour around the downed tree.

Hiccup held onto him and the saddle. He needed to be fast if he didn't want to end up on the ground.

They were about half an hour away by foot. Quickly realizing that this would be a distance difficult for Hiccup to walk with his ankle in this state, Toothless convinced Hiccup to get back in the saddle.

He "convinced" him by throwing Hiccup onto it. It got him to let out an unpleasant cry of pain, but Toothless wasn't quite sure how to tell him otherwise. He could understand Hiccup, most of the time, but Hiccup was still learning his way, his language. There was no way to tell him. Not yet, at least.

"You could've warned me, Bud." Hiccup told him once he allowed himself to breathe again, shaking from the pain.

Ah well, at least he was in the saddle. The stirrup, though he couldn't use it, gave his ankle some much-needed support. Letting it hang there would've only hurt it more.

With Hiccup secure on his back, Toothless brought him home.

There were some obstacles the dragon needed to climb over, but nothing that required the aid of a complete tailfin. Having Toothless to help him back homemade what should've been a half an hour or longer of slow, painful limping a fast ride home. And in the meantime, Hiccup took his mind off his injuries by familiarizing himself with the Night Fury's movements.

It wasn't easy. His head throbbed awfully and it was hard to think, but it was all he could do to try and pass the time. For as swift and smooth as Toothless could run, every slight jerk upwards caused his head to feel like it was reeling back and his stomach like it was about to rid itself of his breakfast.

After a couple of minutes, they reached the outskirts of Berk and Toothless slowed to a stop. He looked up at Hiccup, wanting to know if he wanted to be brought closer or if he could make this distance on foot.

"This is far enough, Bud. Thanks." Hiccup told him gratefully, petting the top of his head. He didn't want the Night Fury to get any closer than he already was. He'd be endangering himself if he did.

Toothless watched him dismount, nearly falling to the ground when he accidentally put weight on his injured foot. He couldn't use it at all.

Toothless brought that fact up by headbutting him. It was strong enough to knock him off his feet if Hiccup hadn't been quick enough to hold onto him.

Hiccup let out an awkward laugh, as if his ankle wasn't on fire, and let go of the Night Fury.

"I'll-I'll be fine, Bud. I'll make it." He reassured him and worked on removing the saddle. He wasn't sure when he would be back with injuries such as these, but it might be a long while. By the time he could return, the leather saddle would only chafe the dragon's hide.

Putting it down and nearly falling over as his head injury left him dizzy and with a double vision, Hiccup faced the dragon again. He looked worried, though Toothless couldn't quite tell yet.

"Listen, Bud... I know this is your first time out of the cove, but be careful, okay? Most of the people here don't wander into the forest, but there are a few who do. Like, this one girl you need to be careful of. She likes to train all alone in the woods." Hiccup wasn't quite sure who he was protecting.

Hiccup doubted Toothless would look at any Viking teen and go "oh, they must be harmless!" as he did with him and he knew for sure that Astrid would, at the very least, look at Toothless and come back running to tell dragon killers that there was an unknown dragon closeby in the forest.

Hiccup just hoped Toothless knew how to stay safe. He wasn't an idiot, but that didn't make Hiccup worry any less for him.

"Um... Bye?" Hiccup awkwardly spoke with a hesitant wave and Toothless sat down.

"Toothless, go." The dragon cocked his head to the side.

"Go!" Hiccup repeated and pointed into the direction of the forest. Toothless responded by gesturing into the direction of the village. They were close enough that they could catch a glimpse of the first of the houses in the far distance.

"You're staying until I'm in the village?" Hiccup asked, wanting to be sure he got that right. Toothless repeated the gesture in the exact same way.

Hiccup couldn't help but give him a cautious smile. Toothless wanted to make sure he got home safe before he left. It made him feel good to know that the dragon cared for him as much as he did. He was deeply touched.

Briefly, there was the urge to hug him, but Hiccup managed to suppress it. No use scaring Toothless off with his overzealous affectionate gestures.

"I'll see you soon." He told him instead, his heartfelt smile never leaving, and turned to limp into the village. He hoped he would be back soon. He would hate to keep Toothless out of the sky for any longer than he needed to be.

He wasn't far anymore and still it took him, in his opinion, much too long to reach Berk. It almost hurt too much to walk, all that kept him going was that he simply didn't have any other choice. And the apparent fact that Toothless wouldn't be able to rest easy if Hiccup didn't make it to his people.

His knee buckled, he was too dizzy, but he got caught before he fell to the ground.

He held onto what turned out to be a wooden prosthetic hand. Looking up, it was his mentor blacksmithing that kept him from falling. Hiccup was surprised to see him, but he wasn't complaining.

"Hiccup? By Odin's ghost, boy, what happened to you?!" Gobber asked, there was shock and worry in his voice.

"Ah, well, uh... You know me! Fell down a ditch! Like an idiot." He did feel that way. He should've known to be careful with Toothless' prosthetic. It was a sensitive thing, it needed to be handled with care.

"That's okay, lad. Come here. Let's get you patched up." Gobber spoke softly and caringly threw an arm around the boy to support him on the way to Gothi's.

Toothless stayed and watched from the treelines until Hiccup was out of sight and he left, heading straight for the cove.


	6. Only Fun If You Get A Scar Out Of It

_Whump server prompt: Chronic Pain_

_Summary: Post-THW. (but diverges before the ending) "Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it." Astrid vaguely remembered making this statement years ago as a response to something the Thorston twins once said. Watching her husband struggle with the loss of his leg eight years after his amputation, she feels like a fool._

_Author's Notes: For the whump prompt "Chronic pain" from the Httyd whump Discord, a prompt I was very excited to do. I like to headcanon that Hiccup's amputation lead to him suffering from chronic pain as a result._

_Constructive criticism is appreciated and I do not own How to Train Your Dragon._

_Enjoy!_

_Also, I still don't know how__ to properly use the word "had"._

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**Only Fun If You Get A Scar Out Of It**

It is late in the afternoon when Hiccup and Astrid return home after a flight taken over New Berk together.

Pushing the door open, Astrid helped Hiccup inside. His arm rested on her shoulder and he leaned on her as he limped.

"Easy," Astrid told him, keeping him steady. Toothless warbled something behind them as he followed them inside while Stormfly remained outside, too big to fit through the door.

Hiccup gasped and cringed as a particularly bad pain ran up from his stump and through his hip. Astrid paused to allow him to breathe through it, giving him a moment.

"Chair or bed?" She asked when the pain seemed to subside enough for him to move again and Hiccup needed to think for a moment.

Would he take the easy way and sit only to possibly be in more pain later when he needed to get back up? Or would he take the extra time and energy required to walk all the way to bed in a different room?

Ah well, at least he didn't need to do stairs. Their house was built in a way to have everything on the same floor and it was built that way just for him. So he might as well go directly to bed.

"Bed." He decided and Astrid nodded before supporting him all the way there. Toothless already shoved things aside to clear a path for them. Hiccup didn't need to maneuver around or over the furniture or the mess they hadn't had the time to clean yet.

"Thanks, Bud." Hiccup told him and patted him on the nose on the way to their bedroom. Toothless purred as his Rider passed him by and then left for the kitchen.

Astrid helped him inside and lowered him onto the furs. Hiccup groaned out loud as he moved to sit down and Astrid kneeled to help him remove his prosthetic. It was an action that caused him great discomfort, but would help relieve him in time.

Standing and walking brought him nothing besides pain, but sitting down somehow made it even worse with the pressure no longer on his stump. Hiccup once again needed to breathe through the hurt. Astrid fumbling with his prosthetic to remove it didn't help much either. She tried to be careful, but her efforts amounted to very little.

Once it was off, Hiccup sucked air in through his teeth and lied down on his side, arms crossing and head on his pillow. He was plagued by the chill and that was partially due to how exhausted he was.

"Not planning on removing your vest?" Astrid asked as she stood and he shook his head with a no.

"Okay." She whispered and, while still holding onto his metal replacement leg, decided to take a seat on the edge of their bed and gaze at him.

Hiccup lied facing away from her, his eyes already closed. If his pain allowed him to sleep, he would've dozed right off.

But if the rummaging in the kitchen was any indication, Toothless was searching the place for willow bark.

In their shared bedroom, it stayed quiet for a couple of moments as Astrid kept her gaze on her husband. If it wasn't for his deep frown, she would've thought him asleep already. Knowing this, she decided to speak up.

"That wasn't one of my best ideas, was it?" She spoke, referring to the afternoon flight they had taken with just the two of them and their dragons.

Hiccup opened his eyes again to look up at her. He didn't answer her, which said enough.

Hiccup had told her his leg was especially bad that morning and still she had insisted on taking to the sky. He let her convince him, albeit because of the assumption he wouldn't need to worry for about half an hour or so. He missed being in the air for hours.

They got to taste the freedom of the sky for not even ten minutes when his leg started hurting so bad he feared he and Toothless would crash.

Flying back and landing had each been a horrendous experience for his burning leg, but getting the prosthetic loose from its stirrup had been a completely different kind of nightmare. The pain in his stump had traveled up to his knee before it continued to his hip. He would've cried if his pride hadn't kept him from doing so.

Astrid would've carried him inside, but with worried and pitying gazes already on him, Hiccup had stubbornly decided to walk inside himself.

He looked back in front of him again and Astrid released a quiet sigh, feeling guilty.

"I thought it'd be nice." She admitted, speaking of her idea to go flying.

"Well, it wasn't. What would've actually been nice would be a day without pain." Hiccup replied, perhaps a bit angrier than he meant it to be. Astrid stared at him in sympathy, she could hear his frustration.

Briefly glancing at her, Hiccup quickly apologized.

"I didn't mean to snap." He added, but Astrid was already running her fingers through his hair reassuringly.

"You call that snapping, Babe? You've "snapped" worse." She told him, remembering a particularly bad moment in their lives when the late Stoick the Vast lied on his death bed and Hiccup blamed himself for putting him there.

She wished he wasn't hurting so much.

This wasn't phantom limb pain, though he had plenty of those days, too, here in the far North. This was a pain he has felt nearly every single day for the past eight years, ever since the day he lost his leg.

He had good days, the very rare pain-free days, and then there were days like these. When he woke up hurting and went to sleep still hurting.

It was draining. On days like these, Hiccup would be exhausted by the time midday arrived and it seemed to be getting worse with each passing year and he was only twenty-three years of age.

In the three years after his amputation, it had been fairly easy for him to hide his discomforts and simply shrug them away. The Dragon Riders only knew of them when that year spent on the Edge forced Hiccup to come clean when he collapsed because his leg refused to cooperate after a battle with Viggo Grimborn and his men.

He'd hated every minute of it, but this sentiment was shared with the Riders. Hearing that your best friend suffered on a near-daily basis behind that mask of smiles, high energy, and sass had been hard on all of them. That the only reason Hiccup came clean was because he wasn't given any other choice and not because he wanted to had made his confession more difficult to bear.

Two years earlier than that, Stoick made Hiccup go for a visit with Gothi after Gobber happened to mention that this kind of pain was quiet unusual and Gothi diagnosed his pain as being chronic.

Chronic and growing worse.

As Chief, he wasn't exactly allowed to just sit his days out either. Not that someone as fidgety as Hiccup could ever sit still for long.

Moving, Astrid gently pulled on his pant leg to reveal his stump to her. The scarring there wasn't irritated at least, one worry less.

"How do you feel?" She asked, her gaze still trained on his leg.

"Like it would be really nice if Toothless found that willow bark." In response, the Night Fury could be heard grumbling in the kitchen. He was big and the space he searched was quite small in comparison.

"I'll go help him search and after that, you can get some sleep. I'll wake you for dinner. It's Fishlegs' turn tonight." Astrid got up from the bed. When Hiccup nodded and closed his eyes again, she decided to take her leave.

As she closed the door to their bedroom, one last glance at Hiccup before he vanished from view, she couldn't help but think of a certain claim she'd made so many years ago as she stood there.

"Only fun if you get a scar out of it, huh?" She asked herself, as if the old fifteen-year-old girl she used to be could hear her. They were foolish words spoken by a child who wanted to sound tough in a world where being soft was seen as a weakness and a detriment.

She had to admit, though her scars were exciting tales she would proudly tell their future children and Berk's, Hiccup's was one that has brought him pain and misery for years and would do so for many more.

It was required of him as a Chief, and her as a Chieftess, to have heirs. With the pain he was in so often, Hiccup wasn't even sure he wanted them, afraid his disability would affect them somehow.

At least his lightning scar simply looked cool and gave him no further troubles, though it was quite sensitive to the touch.

Astrid wondered if her fifteen-year-old self could see the kind of suffering her future husband was to go through for saving Berk and ending a near four-hundred-year-old war, if she would still see having scars as fun as it once did.

She remembered witnessing his amputation. Hiccup hadn't been conscious for that, fortunately, but she had wanted to help her new, and already dear, friend. It was a memory that stayed with her still. At least ever since that event, scars weren't as much the ultimate achievement every warrior strived to reach as they once appeared to be.

No use fretting over it now. She promised Hiccup to help Toothless find and prepare that willow bark. His one way to soothe his pain, if it worked. Turning away from the bedroom door, she made her way over to join Toothless in the kitchen.


End file.
